Symbolic Kifwebe Knife
Songye-Tempa, D.R. Congo
Wood, iron
1920 - 1940

Writing about this type of knife that is connected to the famous kifwebe masks of the Songye, Marc Felix writes, "The masking society Bwadi ka bifwebe also possess various objects adorned with masks [such as] miniature maskettes, shields, knives, etc. in the south and southeast." Indeed, this knife has the shape and incising patterns commonly found on Luba daggers coming from the south and southeast Songye territory. 

The Songye, who number 100,000, inhabit a region of low plateaus, hills, wooded savannas, forested galleries, and vast grass plains in eastern central D.R. Congo. The Songye and the Luba have the same roots traditionally and linguistically, having a common mythical Songye ancestor: Kongolo (Felix, 100 Peoples of Zaire and Their Sculpture: The Handbook. 1987; Felix, Marc Leo, Low, Vivian, & Lu, Henry. (Eds.). Fatal Beauty: Traditional Weapons from Central Africa. 2013). 

This piece comes from the collection of Marc Felix, and includes his inventory number and unusual base (not pictured). 

Published: Rider, 100 African Blades, Vol. 2, plate 84. 

13.375 in :: 34 cm

InventoryID #13-1821

Price on Request